run.” It took a moment for him to realize she answered his question.
“An errand, and what pray was of such importance this bright morning?” Did he sound the jealous fool? Of course, he wasn’t jealous, he just didn’t like her going out without informing anyone.
She was going to lie. He could see her brows draw together and her lower lip tremble. He’d never seen such a guilty looking face.
“I needed to . . .” Her eyebrows were almost touching. She stopped suddenly. Her shoulders pulled back. “It was nothing. I just woke and wanted to be out. Does it matter where I went?”
How did she always manage to turn the question back to him? “Of course not, merely idle curiosity.” He sat in the high wing chair, swung his feet up on the stool. Her eyes followed the gesture and her lips curled up. He raised a brow in question.
“I was just discussing how much I wanted to put my feet up and now I find myself standing watching you,” she said.
“Ahh, are we not going to argue then.”
She placed a hand on the arm of his chair and leaned towards him. “I am not sure we know how to talk without arguing. It seems whatever I say you feel compelled to say the opposite.”
“And here I was thinking the same of you.”
“Then do we actually agree on something?” she asked.
“We do. Are you going to tell me where you were?” He swung one foot down and guided her until she stood between his legs. He closed his thighs about her. He could see the pulse in her neck flick to life.
“I thought it did not matter.” She bent further forward, granting him a clear view down the front of her dress. She licked that maddening lower lip.
“It doesn’t. I just wanted to make sure I had not displeased you in some way. I had plans when I awoke and finding you not present, it put, shall we say, a damper on them.” He waited and watched, sure enough, the blush came. He watched it rise over her chest, spread up her neck until it pinkened her cheeks. She was a delight.
He grasped the hand that rested on the chair and used it to pull her into the chair. “So are you going to tell me?” he whispered into her ear.
“Tell you what?” she whispered back and planted a small kiss at the corner of his mouth.
“Where you were?”
“A woman must keep some mysteries.”
He ran a finger across her collar bone, enjoying her shudder. She kissed him again. He turned his mouth so the kiss landed fully upon his lips. “Will you at least tell me why you were with Moreland and Landgon?” He kissed her again.
“I was not with them, they merely followed.”
“They followed you on your errand?” He pushed down the edge of her bodice and nibbled one white shoulder. He ignored the growing pressure of his arousal. He was getting close to an answer.
“No, they followed me home.” She turned over until her chest was pressed fully against his. She trailed kisses up his neck and nipped the point of his chin. “Are you really going to spend the rest of the morning asking me questions? I thought there was something you wanted to do that you needed me for.” She rotated her hips against him.
He suppressed a groan. She was an enchantress, blushing and innocent one moment, Aphrodite the next. He pulled up her skirt. “We have time for stories and my plans before we go. Is there something you are trying to avoid telling me?” He drew circles on the back of her knee, the fine silk of her stocking causing only the slightest friction.
“Going where are we going?” She bit his chin again.
“Huismans card party. I believe I will accompany you.”
He almost missed how she paled at his answer. Was she still trying to find an excuse not to tell him where she had been? Had it not been as innocent as he imagined? His mind began to spin with possibilities.
She drew back. “Oh, I think I need more practice then.” Her fingers moved from his shirt to the upper fastening of her dress. “I daresay I could use another hand of piquet.”
He forgot what he’d been thinking about.
As she entered the small drawing room on her husband’s arm, Marguerite understood for the first time the power of her title. Walking up to Huismans’ house she had almost turned and run, confessed to her